


Six Little Seeds

by deathhaul



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, if I can relate something to greek mythos I will, nothing explicit happens but the vibes are there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:48:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25869190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathhaul/pseuds/deathhaul
Summary: '“Have you heard of the Hades and Persephone myth?” Hannibal cuts a slit into the pomegranate, red juices spill out onto the dark plate.“Vaguely,” Will lies, he remembers reading the myth in classes. But he wants Hannibal to explain it, he wants to see the way Hannibal sees it.'
Relationships: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Comments: 10
Kudos: 270





	Six Little Seeds

**Author's Note:**

> this fic takes place in late season two, before episode 13.

Will stands in Hannibal’s kitchen sipping his glass of wine, Hannibal had forbidden him from helping clean up after their dinner. So Will leans against the island watching Hannibal clean up, his suit vest and jacket were left draped over the chair in the dining room and his white sleeves rolled around his elbows.

“I assume I no longer have to tell you that I enjoyed our dinner?” Will says between a sip of wine, the sweetness and bitterness colliding in his mouth like a kiss.

“You assume correctly.” Hannibal responds as he gently sets dishes into the sink. Will figures that just one of Hannibal’s plates costs more than Will’s entire collection of dish ware. “I am well aware of your preferences, Will. I know what does not taste good to your tongue and what does.” Will’s next swallow of wine is harder than the previous ones. Hannibal turns and presses his hands on the counter, running his eyes over Will’s features.

“You are as aware of my preferences as I am of yours.” Will wonders who they ate that night, what crime they had committed to land them on their plates. Will smiles as he takes another sip as he watches Hannibal place a black plate onto the counter.

“How full are you, Will?” Hannibal pulls one of his kitchen knives from its home, looking at himself in the reflection. “Can you manage to create some hunger?”

“I can manage, how much will I need?” Hannibal places the knife next to the plate as he walks to his fridge.

“Not much, just a sliver.” Hannibal walks back with a pomegranate and Will eyes it curiously. Hannibal has used pomegranates many times for centerpiece table decoration but he had never used them in their meals. He sets it on the plate and picks up his knife. “Have you heard of the Hades and Persephone myth?” Hannibal cuts a slit into the pomegranate, red juices spill out onto the dark plate.

“Vaguely,” Will lies, he remembers reading the myth in classes. But he wants Hannibal to explain it, he wants to see the way Hannibal sees it. “King of the Underworld and his Queen, correct?”

“Correct.” Hannibal’s hands seize the fruit, fingers gently entering the wound he cut into it before ripping it open. Will watches his movements, transfixed. The sound of the fruit splitting is both horrific and erotic, he wonders if Hannibal can tear into people that easily. Specks of red decorate his pale arms as he sets both halves of the fruit down. “Do you know their story?” Will shakes his head, whatever knowledge he had just left his brain after watching Hannibal’s talented hands.

“Explain it to me.” He says when he finds his voice, taking another sip of wine. “Please.” Hannibal’s lips twitch with a smile as he finally meets Will’s eye contact, his eyes are dark and electric.

“There are many interpretations of the myth,” Hannibal starts. “However in all of them, Persephone is taken to the Underworld by Hades. She is the Goddess of spring, regrowth, and in a way, life. He is the God of the dead, ruler of the Underworld. Persephone’s mother, Demeter, denied the earth of life and their harvest due to profound sadness for her stolen daughter. She was killing the world because she did not have the one she loved.” Hannibal’s eye contact with Will is striking, it cuts him to his bones. “Hades was forced to return Persephone under one condition; she would come home if she did not taste the food of the dead.” Will’s tongue feels heavy in his mouth so he takes another sip of wine, listening to his words.

“Persephone had not eaten a bite of food within the Underworld, but she gave in to her hunger and ate six pomegranate seeds.” Will looks down at the plate as he watches Hannibal’s red stained fingers place six seeds in a row. “Her actions tied her to the Underworld, to Hades, for six months out of the year. One month for each seed, the story in itself an explanation of the seasons. When Persephone is on Earth there is spring and summer, without her, the Earth plunges into her mother's despair of fall and winter. On Earth Persephone is a goddess dripping with death and in the Underworld she is a goddess full of life, she is trapped between worlds.”

“She is both life and death.” Will states as he drinks the final sip of his wine, setting the glass on the counter. “Must be more horrific than just being one or the other.” Hannibal tilts his head and looks at Will, curiously. “The living must have been afraid of her, knowing the death she touched, the man she was with. And Hades must have felt empty without her, she was the only person to see him for what he was and survive.” A smile tugs at Hannibal’s lips as he nods.

“Now, are you hungry, Will?” Will’s eyes fall to the six seeds before him. He knows that in the myth Hades had tricked Persephone to eat the seeds, Hannibal doesn’t want to trick him. He could have hid the seeds in his food and then explained the story or fed him the seeds and then explained the implications behind them afterwards. He wants it to be Will’s choice.

“Just a sliver.” He watches a smile bleed across Hannibal’s face as Will picks up the first seed, he locks his eyes with Hannibal’s as he consumes it. Hannibal watches his fingers move to pick up the next seed and place it on his tongue, his eyes follow the movement of his throat as he swallows. Being watched so closely would normally make anxiety fester inside Will but even with Hannibal’s intense gaze there was something comforting about it. Hannibal simply wanted to watch him, take him all in; as if he was a rare painting Hannibal had never seen in person before. Will doesn’t want to admit he likes the way Hannibal looks at him. He looks at him like he is a god, or in this case, his goddess. When Will reaches for the last seed the plate is slid away from him. He meets Hannibal’s face with confusion before the expression fades away when he watches Hannibal pick up the final seed.

“May I?” Hannibal asks, it knocks the words from Will. All he can do is nod and lick his dry lips before opening his mouth for Hannibal. Will closes his eyes, he can feel the heat of Hannibal’s hand near his face, the gentle touch of the seed on his tongue, and Hannibal’s thumb guiding his mouth to close. He can practically hear Hannibal’s smile as he swallows the last seed, opening his eyes to look at him. Hannibal, who may be without words just as Will is, glances at Will’s empty wine glass and picks it up to refill it.

Will looks at Hannibal's back and before he realizes what he is doing he finds his fingers inside the dark fruit, placing six more seeds in a line. He doesn’t wait for Hannibal to turn around. Resting his forearms on the counter he eats another seed, then another, then another. He is on his tenth by the time he can feel Hannibal’s eyes on him. Will raises his head to look at Hannibal, whose expression was a mix of surprise, curiosity and, maybe, even happiness. Will watches the tension he didn’t realize Hannibal had carried in his shoulders melt away as he sets the wine glass back on the counter. He doesn’t ask what Will is doing, he knows.

Will turns his focus back to the plate before him and swallows down the last two seeds he had laid out. Hannibal is sipping his own wine, his eyes flicking over every movement Will makes. Will picks up a thirteenth seed and holds it on his tongue, he waits to hear the soft clink of the wine glass being set down before he walks over to Hannibal. Will grabs the front of Hannibal’s shirt and pulls him down before kissing him. He can feel the surprise in Hannibal’s lips before they succumb and kiss him back. Will pushes the seed into Hannibal’s mouth with his tongue and feels Hannibal swallow it down against his lips.

“Don’t you think,” Will says after he pulls away, leaning his body against Hannibal’s to trap him between the counter and his own body. He had left faint red stains on his white shirt from his pomegranate soaked fingers.“That it is a little narcissistic to view yourself as the King of the Underworld?” Hannibal simply smiles at his words.

“Even if it does, I don’t mind. I’d view myself as anything if it meant you were my queen.”

“I hope you are happy with your choice of queen. I ate twelve seeds.” He leans against Hannibal more. “It seems like I am with you for all eternity.” Hannibal smiles wider, resting a hand against Will’s cheek.

“How could I be anything but happy?”


End file.
